Publication Order of Kate Daniels World Books

Publication Order of Kate Daniels Collections

The Kate Daniels series was written by Ilona Andrews, a duo of married authors whose real names are Andrew and Ilona Gordon. They specialize in fictional romance and urban fantasy. This couple met in Western Carolina University, where Ilona was studying Biochemistry. Her husband helped her write her first novel, Magic Bites, which is the first book in the series. It was released in 2007, and the sequel, Magic Burns, was released in 2008, and managed to make position 32 in the New York Bestseller extended list. They currently live in Texas with their two daughters.

The Kate Daniels Series’

It’s 2040, and the world has suffered a major apocalypse. Technology was advancing too fast, and when magic came back, it came back with a vengeance, and without warning. It also vanishes just as suddenly as it comes, and leaves a wake of destruction. Skyscrapers have fallen, and their skeletal husks left behind. Magic feeds on technology, and in its presence, planes fall from the sky, there is no electricity and cars don’t start.Monsters also prowl the streets at night; creatures like werehyenas and werebears are hunting down their prey, and necromancers are controlling the minds of bloodthirsty vampires.Kate Daniels, a sharp witted girl with a tongue as sharp as her saber, lives in this world. She has magic in her blood, which makes her a target. For most of her life, she has been hiding in plain sight while working as a mercenary.’

This is the setting of this series, whose first book was preceded by a prequel, A Questionable Client, which was featured in the ‘Dark and Stormy Nights’ anthology.

Magic Bites

This book begins by portraying the protagonist, Kate, as a mercenary who is down on her luck and has to make extra money by cleaning out the problems that magic leaves in its wake. When her guardian is murdered by a vampire, her path to seeking justice leads her into a power struggle between the two largest magical factions in Atlanta.

The Masters of the Dead, also known as the People, are a group of necromancers who are part cult and part organization. They are cold and unemotional, driven by their thirst for knowledge and wealth. They also control the vampires in the city.

The Pack is a group of shape-shifters who are divided into 7 clans and consist of 32 species. They are the People’s arch rivals.

Kate’s quest gets her involved with both factions- the People deny their involvement in the murder even if they are the only ones who can control vampires, and the Pack’s alpha, Curran, called her in to investigate the murders of some pack members who were also allegedly killed by vampires. She also starts working with the Order, the organization that acts as the police in Atlanta, where her guardian was the Knight Diviner.

Magic Burns

After avenging her guardian’s death, Kate has an even bigger problem that is looming in the horizon: The Flare.

This is a period where magic flares up in stronger and more frequent waves that repeatedly destroy technology. This flare affects everyone, but the magical creatures like shape-shifters are more affected than everyone else. During this dark era, unusual magical creatures are also known to get stronger and take the opportunity that the flare gives them to enter the world.

In this sequel, we are introduced to Kate as a paid liaison between the Mercenary Guild and the Pack. The Pack contacts her with an offer for a private job- their power maps to the city have been stolen by an unknown thief and reporting it to the authorities would have been embarrassing for the Pack.
During this job, Kate encounters the thief, who can not only teleport, but also has a number of abilities that are unfamiliar to her. She also comes across a young girl who reported her mother missing, an amateur witch who was a member of a weak coven.

This novel promises the appearance of mistaken gods, undead creatures, witches, and a deeper look into Kate’s history with the unraveling of each clue.

Review

The Kate Daniels series offers a unique blend of fantasy and romance, where the romantic journey of the two main characters is a sub plot, and not the whole point of the books. The author takes us through Kate’s and Curran’s romance without driving away from the mysterious magical creatures and occurrences in their world. We get to see two young people slowly falling in love, without the underlying sexual tension that is common in books of this genre.

It’s also refreshing to see that the vampires in this series are not good looking, invincible creatures of the night with a flare for romance. Instead, they are horrific creatures- human beings that were exposed to the Immortus Pathogen, a bacteria that turned them into creatures that are governed by their blood lust. Created by the founder of the People, they are the very definition of monsters, for they can only be controlled, and not tamed.

The interaction between magic and technology in these books is also something to look forward to, as the two are paradigms that cannot coexist. With technology, magic is powerless. When magic is present, the world is taken back to the ages before the industrial revolution- where lamps were the main source of light and horses the main means of transport.

Kate is presented as a strong lonely girl who initially comes off as abrasive, drawing her sword out before asking any questions. This is a trait typical in heroines, and critics may call this cliche. However, it could be argued that the current audience relates better to this character- the girl with a hard heart that can only be softened by the male protagonist.

Overall, Ilona Andrews has done a good job of creating an alternate universe that is constantly fighting against itself. The magical creatures mentioned in this book seem well researched, as each group’s history is eventually unraveled with the unfolding of every clue. A great read for any fan of fantasy novels.

Rather than announce an upcoming book, we're paying tribute to our most popular author of the year from a survey we did. That author is Louise Penny, who writes the Inspector Gamache books. Trust me when I say this - this is a tremendous serious about a Chief Inspector in Quebec. Buy it for yourself, buy it as a gift - but get the first book in the series, Still Life and see why it's our most popular book series. Read more about it.

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Featured Series

Our character of the month is Inspector Armand Gamache. We know people are looking for gifts for others this time of year - so make it easy. Get someone hooked on our most popular series! Seriously I don't mean to beat a dead horse but try this series out!

Featured Author

Our author of the month is the Canadian author Louise Penny We’re paying tribute to Louise this month. Her Gamache series is simply incredible and each book just gets better. If you haven’t read it yet – start now!

Did You Know…

After graduating from school, Dan Brown then went to Amherst College to obtain a degree in English and Spanish. He graduated in the year of 1986 and then later spent numerous years trying to get himself established as a singer cum songwriter and pianist, but unfortunately was met with very minimal success.